Following to our previous post on why people struggle to start working in coffee, @simon_barista and @thehappiestbarista are delivering their secrets to improve your chances to get to work behind the machine.
How to ‘hack’ the 2 years of experience required: When employers say they are looking for somebody with experience it usually means they are looking for a certain skillset which is assumed to be acquired within those 2 years of experience. Understanding what the employer expects from you and being able to deliver is a great way to get around that ‘2 year rule’ – here is what is expected from an experienced barista:
- Knowing the typical café menu and how to make all different drinks
- Being able to use and clean the equipment
- Being consistent in the quality of the drinks at a fast pace
- Having a level of English that is good enough to understand and be understood
- Chatting with customers and communicating with the team
- Smiling and sending positive energy
As you can see the last 3 are related to one’s personality and not skill set. The rest can be acquired by improving your workflow and learning the Australian café standards.
We highly recommend doing a course that has a strong focus on workflow – enough practice will make you comfortable in most setups and therefore you will be able make coffees correctly, at a fast pace.
You can also go to a bunch of cafés and look at how the baristas work in team, this is a great way to see different ways of working.
